


Enough Time

by AryaGEN



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Jemma searches for Fitz on Maveth, She never got to say "I Love You"
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-20
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2018-05-27 19:39:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6297508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AryaGEN/pseuds/AryaGEN
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU - Fitz was kidnapped by HYDRA under Garrett and sacrificed to the Monolith when he refused to comply, over a year later and Simmons - realising she never told Fitz she loved him - finally has her chance to cross over to Maveth and search for him.</p><p>(PS I'm not good at summaries)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Water had long since stopped dripping from her hair by the time a gentle knocking on the door to her bunk interrupted her, she already knew she should have been keeping a closer track of the time but she’d wanted to revel in the feeling of being clean for just a little bit longer.

 

“Hey Jemma, are you okay in there?” Daisy asked cautiously from the other side of the door, shaking her out of her reverie.

 

“I’m good,” She called back, standing up and tying her hair into a pony tail as she slipped on her thermals. She slowed her breathing to try and steady her nerves as the material slid across her skin, not knowing when she would next be able to shower or change or sleep or simply rest. It had been almost two years since Garrett had taken Fitz and, even with Garrett long dead, she was as far from him as she’d ever been. “Just, just give me a moment please.”

 

Today was the day she brought Leo Fitz back to Earth, or whatever was left of him.

 

“Sure,” Daisy said back hesitantly, “We’ll erm, we’ll be waiting for you – when you’re ready.”

 

Jemma didn’t answer, instead she scanned the room for anything she’d missed, eyes passing over the countless notebooks filled with her handwriting on the Monolith – everything she could find out about it, anything that might help her get to Fitz. She was not oblivious to the high risk of failure attached to this mission; letters in sealed envelopes were piled up on her bedside cabinet for each of the agents she had come to care for in the last couple of years, for her parents and one for the man she now realised she loved should he somehow make it back without her. Sorting her affairs had been strange and, looking around the room, she reflected on how little she had done to personalise the space she had lived in for over a year – the only photo she’d ever put up was of her and Fitz in Peru.

 

“There was never enough time.” She said out loud to nobody in particular, wiping away a fallen tear from her cheek and leaving the room with finality.

 

The mood in the rest of the Playground was just as sombre as she made her way to the Monolith in containment. With each step she wondered if she’d see the halls again and when she arrived at the room with the portal she saw the whole team gathered there waiting. Daisy shot her a thin smile but the rest of them - May, Bobbi, Hunter, Mack and Coulson - wore sad but otherwise unreadable face expressions. All eyes turned to Coulson as he started a predictable plea to reconsider stepping through the Monolith – even his heart didn’t seem to be in it this time.

 

“Agent Simmons…” He started but stopped and began again, placing a hand on her shoulder, “Jemma… It’s been over a year…”

 

“Director Coulson,” Simmons began in her strongest voice, not because she was talking to a superior officer but because she was saying goodbye to a friend – to all of her friends, “I agreed to continue as the head of your Science Division until such time as I found out what happened to Fitz, now that I know… I have to try.”

 

“He could be long gone from where this thing dropped him.” Coulson warned her, not to discourage her as much as to prepare her for what she already knew could be a very long search, or a very short one.

 

“I know sir.” She said gravely, she had not come this far for nothing though.

 

“He could be dead.” Coulson continued with a sigh, clearly aware that he couldn’t talk her out of it.

 

“Yes.” She shot back, trying not to imagine her Fitz dying utterly alone on the other side of the universe -that thought had kept her awake for months after they recovered the Intel on Project Starfinder.

 

“I guess we’re going to find out aren’t we?” He squeezed her shoulder and gave her the warmest smile he could manage though they were both very much aware that this was in all likelihood their farewell.

 

“Don’t look like that,” Jemma said as she noted the sadness behind his eyes, adding with a nostalgic smile of her own, “there’s always a way.”

 

It was Mack that broke the silence next, “You know you don’t have to do this Oxford.”

 

Bobbi came to his support, “Simmons, you tried – you tried your hardest everybody knows that.”

 

She smiled at them both, having warmed to Mack’s nickname despite the fact it had so annoyed her at first, “You didn’t know him – he was… special… I can’t give up.” She focussed on Bobbi, “I leave Science Division in your more than capable hands Agent Morse,” continuing with a grin, “feel free to introduce whatever system for categorising samples that best suits you.”

 

After a brief chuckle Bobbi’s smile faltered and she stated strongly, “Until you’re back.”

 

“Until I’m back,” Jemma affirmed solemnly, eyes watering as she looked to Hunter, “the English Breakfast’s all yours.” He clenched his jaw in response, despite his usually jovial demeanour he had never much been one for goodbyes.

 

“I’ll come with you,” Daisy spoke out a little too loudly, such that she echoed in the small room, “You shouldn’t be doing this on your own.”

 

“I’d like that,” Simmons answered her softly, “but I need you on this side in case anything goes wrong reopening the portal.”

 

Daisy nodded gravely, frustration at her inability to help in the recovery beyond that evident in her voice, “It’s just, well… he was my friend too.”

 

“He was more than that to me,” Jemma replied quietly and watched as Daisy’s mouth parted slightly, “I suppose I always knew, I just didn’t realise until he was gone... That’s why I’m going to get him back.”

 

May stepped forward, breaking the reflective atmosphere of the team and taking charge of the situation, “If this is going to happen it has to happen now.”

 

Within moments the room was a flurry of activity; Daisy helped Simmons into her space suit which, although not strictly necessary based on preliminary readings of oxygen levels, was deemed a reasonable precaution in case the surface conditions on the other planet weren’t as accommodating as first thought. Jemma wasn’t going to use it – arguing that HYDRA records suggested Fitz was not given one when he crossed over – but eventually agreed after she found out he had actually helped design several elements of it himself while they were both back at Sci-Ops. In some way it made her feel like he was still with her.

 

Shortly after she was locked in May ordered everybody to clear the room and, once empty, the elder agent paused in front of Simmons for a moment simply to say, “Bring him home.” And then Jemma was on her own in front of the Monolith. She could barely hear anything other than the sound of her own breathing inside the suit until comms cracked to life and Mack’s voice echoed inside her ear.

 

“Okay Oxford, the code to the lock is 0-8-4.” He said and despite everything, despite the adrenaline pumping around her at what she was about to experience and what she wasn’t sure she was ready to find out about Fitz, she laughed.

 

“You’re kidding?” Jemma asked, she was sure she could hear Daisy complaining about security in the background.

 

“I am,” Mack laughed and then finished wistfully, “it’s 9-8-2-3… good luck Jemma.”

 

She pressed the numbers in with trembling fingers and then pulled at the handle to the glass prison that housed the Monolith until the door was wide open. Simply staring at the solid piece of stone proved too much and she closed her eyes – waiting for whatever it was that was supposed to happen when it turned into its liquid form. After about thirty unbearably tense seconds she heard Daisy on the headset saying, “So how long are we sup-”

 

And then there was darkness.


	2. Rough Landing

_Interplanetary travel was a bitch._

 

She supposed she ought to feel grateful that the atmosphere on the other planet was survivable since her less-than-graceful landing had smashed the visor on her helmet, but in truth she was only grateful that the glass was gone so she could be sick without any of her vomit getting trapped in the suit with her. The air was thinner, dustier and colder than she had been expecting and even without the disorienting and otherwise terrifying sensation of being torn from one planet and thrown from the next, she suspected she would have had some difficulty breathing anyway. Rising shakily to her knees she looked around her at the desert terrain, suddenly relieved she had arrived during the night. Although none of the readings from earlier probes had presented worrying temperatures, with no knowledge of how fast the planet was turning there was no real way of being sure they hadn’t just repeatedly sent the probe through at night.

 

After quickly checking her vitals on the small bio-monitor screen attached to her arm she straightened up and began taking proper stock of her surroundings and looking out at the ghostly blue landscape she’d found herself a part of. If she hadn’t have seen the sky she could almost have believed she was still on Earth but for the two worryingly close moons suspended above; if there were seas on this planet she dreaded to think what their tides would be like. Quickly unfastening what was left of her now defunct helmet she let it fall to the ground, noting as it dropped that gravity seemed a little stronger here; her decision not to come with much more than a case worth of equipment seemed vindicated.

 

“I’m here Fitz… where are you?” She said aloud before taking a quick swig from the flask on her hip and noting grimly there were no immediate signs of him or anything else around her. She wasn’t sure if this was necessarily bad though - Coulson had convinced her to take a gun but she had no way of knowing if it would be effective against extra-terrestrial biology. Even long after the Chitauri had been defeated the images of New York, and her own near-fatal experience with a virus from their homeworld, often plagued her dreams.

 

It was only as she stooped down towards the suitcase sized crate of equipment she’d come through with that she realised just how dizzy she truly was. The closest she’d been to feeling even near this dazed and confused was after her and Fitz’s disastrous two-person birthday party in Scotland when her competitiveness led to an unfortunate boast that she could keep up with him in _everything_ … that turned out to include whiskey drinking.

 

“Get it together Jemma,” She murmured to herself, barely able to keep her balance with her head spinning so fast. Back in Scotland she’d had two days to recover but here, on the other side of the universe; she needed to be fit for purpose immediately. As she lurched her way towards the lock on the case she laughed bitterly – everyone had always said her and Fitz would go far, somehow she doubted this was what they’d had in mind.

 

Struggling to open it with her bulky gloves she freed both her hands to better access the clasp already jammed tight with dirt from the rough landing. It was only as she paused to wipe the sweat from her brow that she noticed a dark crimson stain left on her fingers.

 

“Shit,” She cursed as pulled a small mirror from one of the pouches in her forearm and inspected her forehead in its reflection, “Three centimetre laceration above the supraorbital foramen,” she said clinically as her own doctor and patient, “based on the absence of significant contusion the injury was most likely sustained after immediate impact by a shard of glass from the broken visor, with any luck it’s just a superficial cut.”

 

It only took her a moment to apply a temporary patch over it – she could stitch it later – before she forced open the case with a grunt and took out the flaregun, immediately firing a it into the sky – it was a long shot, but it couldn’t hurt. Putting it back in the case she carefully lifted out one of Fitz’s refashioned DWARFs, explaining her situation to the in suit recorder as she powered it up and made preparations for her search.

 

“This is Dr. Jemma Simmons updating the file on the Monolith. I have now confirmed that it is an alternating matter transportation device; a portal. Quite remarkable really, I’ve been transported to an unknown planet in a different solar system.” She leaned backward as the DWARF’s rota blades began spinning, kicking up the sand below it and making her cough.

 

“The air is, _ahem_ , breathable, oxygenated… and gravity seems to be slightly stronger.” She confirmed to the record, noticing that as the DWARF hovered in front of her the sensor data and predicted readings were slightly out. Pressing a button on the chassis it rose up above her in order to take aerial photos and generate a 3D landscape of the surrounding area. Until it returned she had nothing to do; without internet or satellite there was no way of her receiving a live feed so they’d had to pre-programme options on the other side. Although Daisy had done her best but Jemma couldn’t help but wonder if Fitz would have found a less inelegant solution than sitting around until returned.

 

Sighing as the red specks of light flew high above her she continued with her first hand observations, “The terrain is barren, desert like – although conditions feel favourable for terrestrial organisms there’s no immediate signs of life, nor any noticeable vegetation or water. I’m currently awaiting initial readings from Grumpy before I decide on where to begin the search.”

 

It took seventeen minutes for Grumpy to return – during which time Jemma had set up her laptop and climbed to the top of the nearest dune to begin mapping out the constellations and working out where in the universe this planet actually was. She was more than aware that the chances of being able to successfully align the stars visible on this planet to those back home were remarkably slim but in lieu of anything better to do while the DWARF finished its topographical map of the area, she tried anyway.

 

She’d made no progress by the time Grumpy returned – not that she’d expected to – and immediately powered the DWARF down to conserve battery before slotting the SD card into her Fitz-augmented laptop. It took a while for the images to load but sure enough she had a bird’s eye view of the whole local area. The findings, though, were difficult to decipher.

 

“What am I looking at Fitz?” Jemma asked herself as she scanned over the data – noting immediately several small reflective surfaces that could be water sources. On the far side of the digital map the images and sensor information became blurred and inconclusive “Magnetic interference would have interfered with the flight systems so if you’re not magnetic, what are you?”

 

Whether it was the steady increase in the sound of the wind or her time spent studying fluctuations in weather patterns around Bifrost sites before crossing over Jemma realised with a panic that the images she was seeing might not be the result of equipment failure at all. It was a storm. Her heart pounded as she checked where the front was located and sprinted up the nearest dune in that direction with the hope that whatever the weather was it would be headed the other way. By the time she reached the top she knew she was not that lucky.

 

The dust storm was among the most terrifying sights she’d seen in her life; blocking out what little light was on the planet in the first place it rolled towards her at a frightening pace. As she slid her way down the dune to her crate of equipment she wondered if this was how the Romans felt watching Vesuvius erupt – awed and terrified in equal measure in the face of something so completely unknown and colossally powerful. She barely had time to close her case when she the sand started whipping at her face and eyes, instantly making her skin raw. She could hardly see a stone’s throw ahead of her when she finished securing her gear – turning on a bright flashing light attached to the equipment in case she needed to abandon it and come back later, not that she had anywhere to flee to.

 

“Visibility is low,” She called out over the now howling winds, more to calm her nerves than keep up the record, “No obvious means of shelter...” Panic began to rise in her voice as she faced the possibility that everything she had done to get here could have been for nothing, “If this doesn’t pass…” She gritted her teeth and squinted as the storm grew more intense around her, “I’m… I’m so sorry Fitz… I don’t know what to do…” She held herself against the case like a lifeline and finally broke into tears, “I came all this way.”

 

It was when she was about to give up entirely that she saw a figure approaching calmly through the storm in front of her. It was impossible to make out any details on the silhouette as it crept forwards but every part of her felt ice cold with terror in its wake.

 

Whoever it was, _whatever_ it was, it was not Leo Fitz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for the support, hope you like the new chapter - don't worry we'll get to Fitz soon! Please let me know what you think, it was quite tricky writing an extended piece of single character action.  
> Sorry I didn't update sooner btw - computer crashed and I lost everything. Happy Easter :)


	3. What NASA Left Behind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somebody rescues her, it's not Fitz. Don't worry, there's no Jemma/Will in this story - it's Fitzsimmons all the way...

The figure was less than a stone’s throw ahead of her but try as she might she couldn’t move. Her whole body was locked in fear and shock; even as she watched the truncated, inhuman movements of the silhouette her hands stayed uselessly by her sides instead of reaching for her gun. The approaching shadow began to take on shape and she could pick out details through the sandstorm: thick vine-like shoots bound around a batter, late nineties space suit, the occupant impossible to see through the tinted visor glass. The being in the suit lifted up its arm towards her.

 

“Get up!” A deep voice called from somewhere behind her, only just rising above the loud roaring of the storm.

 

“Fitz?” Jemma asked but even as she turned to look for the source of the voice she knew it wasn’t him. Even after more than a year apart she’d know Fitz’s voice anywhere; she used to replay video clips of him lying in his bunk on the BUS until it had gotten too painful… there was even a time where she could see him alongside her, though that was before Dr. Garner gave her sleeping tablets.

 

“Move!” The man shouted, accompanied by the loud crack of a gunshot.

 

Instinctively ducking Jemma stole a glance back towards the wretched suit, horrified to see despite a still-smoking hole in the shell of the torso the thing inside continued towards her relentlessly. It was only when she felt something grab her shoulder from behind that she scrambled to her feet somewhat awkwardly in her bulky suit. The man who grabbed her, and presumably the same man who had fired the gun, took her hand and pulled.

 

“We have to go now!” He roared, tossing away the gun he held in the hand that was not dragging hers. At the brief glimpse she saw of his face she guessed he must have been in his late thirties, he was gaunt and pale and had a thick black beard. She held onto his hand tightly as she struggled to run, barely catching his shouts for her too be faster over the fierceness of the wind.

 

By the time they stopped it felt like they were running forever; the weight of the suit combined with the stronger gravity and sand filled air meant Jemma had been exhausted almost immediately. Her muscles burned and lungs screamed at her that she was pushing herself too far but it was only when she was sick for the second time since landing that she finally dropped to her knees. Her new companion turned to face her.

 

“We have to keep moving.” He said coldly, “If you stop, you die. This whole godforsaken planet is evil.”

 

Despite the agonising and yet somehow also dulled protests from her body she struggled back to her feet but in only a few paces fell down again, fatigue besting her. She tried to apologise but couldn’t form the words, in fact she couldn’t do anything at all.

 

“Are you bleeding?” He asked in response to her collapse, checking her for visible signs of a cut. She pointed to her patched forehead and he leaned in close to take a look before nodding gravely, “And that’s it? No more cuts?” She tried to answer him but was simply unable to – it was an odd feeling, medically she knew she was in shock and this was a completely ordinary response to the impossible things she had just seen. She became aware he was still speaking only when he snapped his fingers, “Hey, it’s really important that you focus, what’s your name?”

 

It took her a few moments but she eventually forced out, “J-Jemma.”

 

He smiled, “Ok Jemma… You’re in shock but I need you to concentrate, it smells blood – is that your only cut?” She almost laughed at the fact that even in shock she beat him to the diagnosis but focussed instead on trying to nod without throwing up. He put his hand on her shoulder, this time reassuringly, and said in a voice that she assumed was supposed to be soft but sounded gravelly anyway, “We need to keep going, shelter’s not far.”

 

She swallowed back the taste of bile from her throat and drank from her flask again, rising unsteadily to her feet. The wind had died down slightly and when she looked behind her to see if the figure was following she could see only sand. He turned her face to him and said, “Don’t think about it, we’ll be safe but you have to follow me now.”

 

She set her jaw and grimly nodded, continuing their arduous trek across the sand for what felt like mile after mile. Jemma wasn’t exactly sure when it happened but the winds gradually died down and the sand that had been slamming into her stinging skin eased off. By the time they reached a small hatch in the ground she could barely keep her eyes open from tiredness and fell asleep before she had a chance to take in her surroundings.

 

When she awoke she sat up too quickly and made herself dizzy; her vision blurred like the static on a CRT television. She winced at what she assumed must be daylight given the soft orange glow of her surroundings, even in her state it was a relief to see something other than the deep blue of the planet night. Pulling herself shakily to her feet she noticed her rescuer had left her in her suit but placed her head on a rucksack filled with what she assumed was sand for a pillow. As she looked to offer him her thanks she noticed her sidearm was gone from its holster and the danger of her situation set in immediately.

 

“Hello?” She called out and immediately regretted it; after all, she’d never met this man – she had no idea what he was doing out here and he’d taken the only weapon she had to protect herself. She hoped he was like Fitz – an agent of SHIELD forced to cross into the Monolith as punishment for non-compliance, the realisation that he could be HYDRA hit her hard.

 

“Jemma?” A voice called from further in the cave, she shrank away from it and searched for something she could use as a weapon just in case. Scanning about her there was nothing but maps, what looked like ancient NASA equipment and odd cracks in the cave walls that let out the orange glow she’d first thought was daylight.

 

Footsteps behind her meant she had only seconds to decide what she was going to do – quickly stepping away from his direction and either further into the cave or towards the exit, she had no way of knowing what way was which. She stopped when she came across a smaller cave linked to the main chamber by a narrow passage and holding in it a great cage made of bamboo like tree trunks. The breath hitched in her throat as she found no exit and worse yet was confronted by the very real fear that she was, or could become, this man’s prisoner and nobody would ever know.

 

“Jemma?” The voice was quiet, in her fear she hadn’t noticed him come close.

 

She wheeled round and put as much space between them as possible until her back was pressed against the wall, “What the hell is this” She blurted at him, indicating to the makeshift cell in the centre of the room.

 

“Just a precaution,” He said calmly, taking a slight step backwards in an apparent effort to make her feel more comfortable. His voice was low, gravelly, and although the orange glow in the cave made him appear more youthful she could make out the first signs of grey in his messy hair and beard as well as well-worn stress lines in his forehead, “This planet, it plays tricks on you – this was necessary.”

 

“You have a name?” She demanded, painfully aware than in her suit she had no chance of outrunning him and even if by some miracle she could beat him, she had no idea where to go and what that thing was that chased them.

 

“Will.” He hesitantly replied, she could tell he didn’t know what to make of her - a situation more threatening by the fact he had her pistol tucked in his belt. After a tense silence he spoke again, “You’re an astronaut?”

 

“Why would you say that?” She shot back hastily, frowning when he unsuccessfully stifled a smile – it was a relief on some level that he could smile. When he, incredulous, indicated to the fact she was wearing an astronaut suit she blushed and muttered, “Oh.”

 

“What year is it?” He asked and the expression on his face darkened as he did so, she got the sense that he was finally taking the conversation more seriously.

 

“It’s 2015… how long have you been here?” She questioned when he leant against the edge of the cave and breathed out a heavy sigh.

 

“Fourteen years.” He mumbled, the words dropping between them like a high impact grenade.

 

“And you’ve been alone this entire time?” Her voice was sympathetic and calmer, with every word he spoke the more safe she felt around him.

 

“Not exactly alone,” He mumbled and looked above them towards the roof of the cave and, she guessed, the surface of the planet.

 

“What was that thing?” She said immediately, the terror of the ancient astronaut suit shackled in some vine-like substance coming back to her.

 

“He was one of the men that came with me, before _It_ got him… It has this way of getting inside your head just making you crazy.” Will shifted uncomfortably on his feet as he talked about whatever it was she had seen the night before. Each time she tried to convince herself it was a trick on her mind, a hallucination from her concussion she remembered the blood-freezing horror as it approached and just couldn’t.

 

“What happened to them, your crew?” She asked though she suspected she could already guess the answer.

 

“They died,” He said pensively, his brow furrowed and expression pained, “A long time ago.”

 

“I’m sorry.” She took a step forward and offered a sincere half-smile as a sign of reassurance and understanding. He nodded lightly and a more relaxed calm fell between them, the earlier tensions fading slightly.

 

“Hey,” He said suddenly as though remembering something, “I got your gear – the crate you were with, I went back for it while you were out,” He almost sheepishly removed the gun from his holster and handed it to her grip first, “I borrowed this from you, I figured you wouldn’t need it in here and… I wasn’t sure I could trust you.”

 

Taking the gun and putting it on the floor she beamed at him brightly, thrilled she wouldn’t have to try and retrace their steps – whatever storm had hit them would have certainly got rid of any sand trails and without her kit she doubted she had any real chance of getting Fitz back. “Thank you, that was – very thoughtful, I honestly didn’t think I’d have any hope–” She began but Will cut her off.

 

“There is no hope out here.” He stated coldly and the terser atmosphere reasserted itself for a moment.

 

“I don’t believe you,” she answered him gravely, “I needed rescuing and there you were. There’s always hope.”

 

He didn’t respond other than to turn and walk back into the main cave where she spotted her crate next to his older NASA equipment; she was surprised she’d missed it before. Racing over to it she took out her tablet and began pouring over the data the DWARF had recovered the night before.

 

“Technology must have hit warp speed after I left,” Will commented with a mixture of awe and clear bitterness at having been gone so long. “What’s it for?” He asked.

 

“I’m looking for someone, a man named Fitz.” She answered truthfully, at this point Will had done nothing but demonstrate he could be trusted. She looked over at him and saw his eyes light up as she said Fitz’s name.

 

Will crossed over to look her directly in the eyes and said, “Wait, Jemma…you’re _that_ Jemma, _Leo’s_ Jemma?” He looked at her in greater disbelief than he had looked at the tablet just moments earlier.

 

She eyed him cautiously for the first time, her mind trying to block out all the possibilities as to how Will might have known Fitz – chief among them being that she had hit her head harder than she thought and none of this was real. His use of Fitz’s first name in particular had her anxious, it was a well-known fact he hated being called by his first name. She tried not to think of why he wouldn't also be with them both now, if everything was happening as she perceived it. When she spoke she spoke carefully and slowly.

 

“How do you know Leo Fitz?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys had fun with that, I liked Will's character (despite the chasm it left behind) and wanted to introduce and use him differently. Fitz's introduction is coming up so be excited for that aha :) Anyway, please let me know what you thought - sorry I didn't reply to those that left comments on the last chapter, was too busy writing this one with the very short amount of time I get to update :) I'd love to know what you thought though


	4. Where Is He

Will’s gaze felt piercing as he asked in a guarded tone, “Is Leo why you’re here?”

 

“Yes,” She answered quickly and tried to push down the sinking feeling in her gut that something was wrong, “Do you know where he is?”

 

Will grimaced and turned away, leaning his hand against the wall of the cave and attempting to change the topic, “You should get out of your suit – you don’t need it here and it’ll just slow you down – besides you must be baking in there.”

 

“Will,” she said sharper than she meant to, “ _Please_ … Can you help me? How did you know him, is he alright?” He must have sensed the desperation tinging her words because he turned to face her again.

 

“He was alive the last time I saw him, but on this planet – whether he’s still that way…” Will trailed off pensively before regathering himself and attempting to be a bit more optimistic for her sake – she could only imagine how devastated she must have looked, “Shortly after he arrived he fell into this network of caves – he was in pretty bad shape. The cage, the one in the other room, I made that when he got here; I didn’t even know if he was real, this place gets into your head if you’re not careful.”

 

“Where is he now?” She asked, swallowing the bile that crept up her throat as she thought, not for the first time, about Fitz being stuck in such a horrible place. Coulson had told her that Fitz had saved May’s life at the Hub but he was in HYDRA’s possession for months before they sent him through the Monolith. She didn’t know what they’d done to him but the idea of being alone and tortured and then thrown into another planet made her want to be sick.

 

“Jemma he went somewhere, I tried to stop him from going but he wouldn’t have it – as soon as he healed up he left.” Will explained before adding, “I tried to stop him but, well you know him, Leo’s about as stubborn as it gets.” He added with an attempt to lighten the grim mood.

 

“Why do you keep calling him Leo?” Jemma blurted out a little too loudly, of everything she knew that was what she should be least concerned about but it bugged her nonetheless. In the back of her mind she couldn’t shake the creeping doubt that perhaps this man had hurt him or otherwise driven him away, she wondered when it was she had stopped trusting anybody – she guessed probably after Coulson told her they didn’t know how to get Fitz back.

 

“Sorry?” Will asked back, clearly confused by her sudden outburst.

 

“Leo,” She said slightly more calmly before continuing, “He hates being called Leo, he always uses Fitz.”

 

To her surprise, and slight relief, Will’s confused expression gave way to a great grin as he laughingly answered her, “Is that right? _Fitz…”_ He stressed the name as though testing how it would sound to say it.

 

“What’s so funny?” Jemma asked in such a way that if she could see herself she’d probably have described as being petulant.

 

“We didn’t exactly get along at first – he seemed convinced that I was going to eat him. He actually punched me when he got out the cage,” Will said surprisingly fondly, “I told him my name and he told me his, I said he could call me Will if I could call him Leo; he was probably too scared to refuse.” He seemed to find the whole thing amusing as though reminiscing on an age old friend – it was quite strange for Jemma to see.

 

“Where is he now, what happened?” She finally asked the burning questions that had been gripping hold of her since the NASA survivor first mentioned Fitz’s name.

 

“Last I saw him he was headed to the No Fly Zone – it’s the home of that thing, the monster.” Will looked to his feet and kicked at the sand that made the floor of the cave, “I did try to stop him but he was hell bent on getting there.”

 

“Why?” She breathed out in frustration – the knowledge that he had probably been exactly where she stood hitting her as her hard as when she had found the cell he had been held captive in back on Earth. “Why would he leave?”

 

“To find you,” Will answered quietly and for the first time she thought she detected resentment in his tone – as though he blamed her somehow for Fitz abandoning him. “You were all he ever talked about; your name is like his favourite word.” Will stepped away from her and walked over to pick up some old papers from what was clearly his work station.

 

“I don’t understand?” Jemma asked cautiously, leaning against the edge of the cave for support as worry and weary sapped at her strength.

 

“Before he was… _sacrificed…_ they made him study it, the Monolith – he believed that the portal opening wasn’t random; that it was connected to forces from this side. He thought that if he could work out what made the portal open–”

 

“Then he could locate it and get home on his own.” Jemma finished for him and Will nodded.

 

“Not quite on his own.” Will shot back at her and she could hear real fear in his voice.

 

“I didn’t mean...” Jemma started to explain but then deflated and said simply, “I’m sorry.” The man in front of her was clearly afraid of being left behind; she supposed he had no way of knowing if Fitz was successful and had got home or had died out there and left him waiting. Will was a man afraid of hope. “Fitz wouldn’t leave you behind, he’s not like that.”

 

“He might have…” Will muttered coldly and, in response to Simmons’ furrowed brow he elaborated more fully, “When he got here he was pretty banged up, talking to himself – delusional. There were times he would… He wasn’t always... _lucid_.” Will trailed off uncomfortably and it was only as she looked away from him she noticed her cheeks were wet.

 

“What’s in this No Fly Zone?” She asked, trying to distract herself from thinking on what might have happened to Fitz since the last time she’d seen him. She had replayed the last image of him she had in her mind countless times – on the BUS together before she went to the HUB; before SHIELD and her life were torn apart. She’d always known that if she was lucky enough to find him alive he might be traumatised to the point of unrecognizability, but she pushed the thought down – she would be happy just to see him alive.

 

“None of this equipment’s had power for years but it could be used to locate the portal,” Will said gesturing to the ancient NASA gear around them, “There’s some kind of ruins in the No Fly Zone – great rising towers like sky scrapers but bigger, Leo guessed they must have run on some type of current and whatever they used might get our machines back online. He pointed out more than once that the engineering would literally be _out of our world –_ or at least, that’s what he said on his better days.” Will finished gravely. Simmons wondered at just how close these two had become when they were together; this man she’d just met talked about Fitz like they were brothers – her Fitz had never exactly been much of a socialite so it was quite strange to see.

 

“Can you point me in the direction he went in?” Jemma asked, looking at the map Will had drawn and trying to guess what the scale was.

 

“You know what’s up there.” Will said matter of factly before adding, “You’re going after him.” It wasn’t a question.

 

“Yes.” She answered clearly, looking over his map intently, “How far from here to the ruins?”

 

“Four miles give or take to the border of the No Fly Zone, maybe the same again – I’ve only ever seen them from a distance.”

 

“Based on the arid climate up there I’d guess it’s probably best to leave after the midday sun – how long are days here, it was night when I came through?” She asked, the part of her mind that excelled at preparation swinging into gear as she began to plan what she might need for the journey.

 

“Jemma…” Will said nervously and she got the feeling she wasn’t going to like what he said, “There isn’t a sun – not for this planet.”

 

“I’m sorry?” She asked; scientifically understand what he’d said but not understanding what that actually meant for them.

 

“There’s no sun here – our equipment was designed to run on solar panels, it’s why we’ve got no power.” Will explained and her eyes darted around the room at the soft orange glow she’d assumed was sunlight since she’d woken up.

 

“But the heat… and this light?” She asked in confusion.

 

“There’s a luminescent substrata below the surface of the planet; it keeps it warm.”

 

“No daylight.” She said to herself as if that would make her fully comprehend the truly alien nature of the world around them. Not for the first time she became incredibly aware of light headedness and slumped against the wall of the cave again, she wanted to be sick and sleep and scream in equal measure.

 

“When was the last time you ate?” Will asked, concerned. She shrugged and he immediately ran to one of the crates of old NASA gear he had to get some food out. “Get some strength back before you go after him – you’ll want to be rested before you set out.”

 

“Thank you Will.” She answered; part of her wanted to leave instantly but – just as when they’d first retrieved the Monolith – she knew she had to patient, saving Fitz meant looking after herself as well.

 

“One question,” Will asked as he poured out some water into an old tin cup for her to drink, “He was pretty crazy about you, do you love him?”

 

For the first time in a long time Jemma Simmons smiled, “I dove through a hole in the Universe for him… what do you think?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I've been training for a big swimathon (21 miles!) and prepping for exams... Hope you enjoy the new chapter, let me know what you guys think - thanks so much for the lovely comments on the last chapter, I'm so sorry I haven't had a chance to reply to them yet - they're what encouraged me to write this tonight so thank you.  
> Btw, Fitz is in the next chapter! :D (Yay) How will there reunion go? Find out aha.


	5. Fitz

“Four miles my arse,” she said, forehead slick with sweat. Jemma didn’t know if it was the stronger gravity or simply that Will’s cartography needed work but she’d been walking for almost two and a half hours by the time she reached the boundary to the No Fly Zone. Pausing to wipe her brow and take a swig of water from her flask she laughed in spite of herself.

 

“If I were Fitz where would I be?” She asked nobody in particular before grinning in excitement – one of the bizarrely shaped skyscrapers in the seemingly haunted cityscape appeared to have lights on. In the pitch darkness of a planet without a sun the building shone like beacon and if Will was right then it had to be Fitz – it’s not like whatever she saw in the storm seemed to crave light. She knew that the signs of Fitz’s work didn’t mean he was safe now but it was the closest she’d come in two years to having any real hope for his wellbeing.

 

Forgetting her tiredness she trudged on towards the light covering mile after mile of the sandy terrain – the towers grew larger and larger as she approached them and she noted, once again, that Will’s sense of distance was shockingly out of touch with reality. If she hadn’t been so focussed on her rescue mission she would’ve laughed at the idea of using “reality” as a judgement criterion: nothing about her life even before she started trekking across this distant planet screamed “reality” anymore. Between her super-powered part alien friend and herself briefly becoming a spy twice over as a double agent in a secret neo-Nazi cult, somehow her reference point for what was and wasn’t normal was long gone. She was sure Fitz would probably quip that she was insane when she told him what had happened back on Earth.

 

The sand gave way to a hard flat surface not unlike tarmac as she got ever closer to the source of light – it felt strange under her feet as her footsteps felt lighter on the material despite the increased gravity. It was like walking on sponge except that her feet didn’t sink into the material; the whole experience made her feel queasy and it wasn’t long until she found herself missing the sand: at least that behaved like something she understood… unlike just about everything else.

 

The buildings around her were worn with great signs of age but even so were unmistakably futuristic. Each tower was made out of a series of high curves; if there had been glass in the spaces that seemed like windows it was long gone and she couldn’t see any stairs. That said, the shadows were even darker in the ruins and she had no intention of looking closer, she had never been more petrified. Her heart skipped when she imagined how Fitz must have felt, exploring in the darkness – afraid for his life and desperately alone. She forced herself not to look into the entryways of each tower: if there was anything in there she didn’t want to see it, for the first time in her scientific life – she’d rather be ignorant.

 

Fitz’s tower, as she was calling it in her head, was still some way off but the light it gave off showed her more details of the city: the ground was littered with small spheroid balls that looked metal but, she found out when she tripped on one, weren’t nearly as solid. The material seemed to ripple and glowed very faintly – she didn’t stay long enough to see if it did anything next. Other strange phenomena included strange rubbery looking plants that leaned in slightly as she walked past and the fact that what she guessed might have been vehicles had no wheels or axels or anything recognisably part of a car. If it weren’t for her fatigue she would have started jogging just to get away from all the sights around her.

 

It wasn’t until she turned the corner and saw the lit tower in its full condition that she let her scientific mind appreciate the impossible city. The building seemed to pulse slightly brighter every three to four seconds like a heartbeat that ran from the bottom to the top. At the base the light was a deeper orange than seemed possible and it seemed to stretch over the gaps where she expected to find windows like the surface of a bubble. It was as if she were standing underwater in an endless desert as she approached what she hoped was the entrance. It was magnificent.

 

“Fitz?” She called out as she walked through a doorframe several times taller than she was high. Stepping into the room she found it strange to see not a spec of sand indoors. The room was warmly lit, comfortable if very bare and what furniture she recognised – several curved chair-looking things around a table that hung from the ceiling down rather than floor up – seemed to be human-sized.

 

She called out his name louder but had to hold her ears – the noise seemed to reverb uncomfortably in the space as though it were overly pressurised. She almost didn’t hear the Scottish response that followed in a singsong fashion.

 

“Ah Simmons, did you find it?” Fitz asked but she couldn’t place where his voice was coming from except that it might be coming from upwards. For the second time she wondered what alien stairs looked like.

 

“Where are you?” She asked but the sound felt dislocated from her throat.

 

“I know it all looks blue out there,” he called back and she felt her heart clench. She was silent for a few seconds before she heard him _reply,_ “It’s alright Jem, I’ll find it.”

 

She walked further into the tower and looked as the same pulsing light that rose the edge of the building rose up the centre as well. Specs of dust seemed to rise in what looked like an open elevator shaft but she could see no buttons to call it. In the middle the ceiling rose so high she couldn’t see it and each level of the floor surrounded the light like a ghostly multi-story parking garage. She thought she heard mumbling coming from further upwards and focussed on the centre again – when she put her hands into the orange light she felt her arm start drifting upwards.

 

“A gravity tunnel…” Jemma breathed out, “Incredible.” She giddily stepped in and marvelled as her feet lifted the floor and she gently floated up the impossible building. If it weren’t for the chance to see Fitz again she was sure her mind would be spinning with theories. She kept drifting up scanning each floor for any signs of movement – anything at all.

 

“Jemma…” Fitz’s voice was low, grounded and came from right behind her. By the time she turned she was already a bit too high and stepped out towards him, falling gracelessly over herself.

 

“Fitz!” She screamed in joy, picking herself up off the floor and stepping towards him. He shrank back away from her and pressed into one of the walls.

 

“Jemma,” He stammered nervously, “What… what have you done to your hair?”

 

In spite of herself she laughed as he took in her appearance, “I cut it shorter Fitz.” She said as she reached out again to him but he moved to get away, seemingly forgetting he was already against a wall and almost tripping over his feet.

 

“You always said you would.” He mumbled under his breath and tried not to make eye contact.

 

She paused for a moment before asking cautiously, “You don’t seem surprised to see me?”

 

“Why would I be?” He shot back, his voice was defensive and rough.

 

“It’s been two years Fitz.” She said carefully before reaching out a hand slowly towards him.

 

“It may have felt that long to you but I sent you for the cord…” He paused to look at his watch, “this morning… I should’ve known I’d have to get it myself _again.”_ He added in annoyance. His eyes glinted and although he appeared conversational she could tell something was wrong – besides that he believed her to be a hallucination.

 

“Fitz I’m really here.” She said firmly, wincing at the strange acoustics of the building again.

 

“I’m sure.” He mocked coldly, “You can’t even pretend anymore.” He tapped a finger to his head in frustration and it was only then she took in his appearance properly, wiping the water from her eyes to drink him in.

 

He was thin and pale but she expected anyone would be on this planet; it was the scars. They were faint but clear in the orange light; small burn marks and cuts littered the skin she could see of him – across his arms and around his neck. She didn’t doubt under his grubby shirt she’d see more.

 

“What did they do to you Fitz?” She almost mumbled, choking on a sob. This had been the wrong thing to ask.

 

“I DON’T NEED YOUR PITY!” He practically roared at her, “I needed you to help me. I needed you to find me!” His loud voice echoed painfully.

 

“I have found you Fitz.” She answered as softly as she could, frightened and feeling very small.

 

“No… you haven’t…” He stated defeated, reigning himself back in before putting on an unconvincing smile and adding in that same singsong voice he’d had when she first came in, “I like the new hair though Jemma, it suits you.”

And with that he walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading - hope you enjoyed the new chapter, I'm working through all my unfinished stories atm, let me know what you thought! :)

**Author's Note:**

> What do you guys think? How will Fitz react after over a year on Maveth? Is Oxford an alright nickname for Jemma from Mack? Hope you enjoyed this little plot bunny I've been stuck with


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